June 26, 2009

More Economic Team Housing Woes...

Recall that Tim Geithner decided to rent out his five-bedroom Tudor in the New York suburbs earlier this year after finding no takers at $1.635 million--or, later, the reduced price of $1.575 million.

Well, now it looks like FDIC chairman Sheila Bair is in the same boat. According to the Journal, Bair just took her five bedroom colonial in Amherst, Mass. off the market after being unable to sell it for $695,000, down from the initial list price of $795,000 in April. The story continues:

Ms. Bair, and her husband, Scott P. Cooper, paid $355,000 for the house in 2002. In "02 and "03 they received building permits valued at $89,500 to renovate the 1860s house., including new roofing and a counter-current basement pool. In 2006, President George W. Bush appointed Ms. Bair, then a professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's school of management, to the FDIC post, and she was one of the few officials to remain in their positions in the Obama administration.

After listing the five-bedroom property in April, the couple cut the price to $745,000 less than three weeks later, then reduced it again before withdrawing the listing. ... An FDIC spokesman said Ms. Bair decided to remove the listing and wait for the market to improve on the advice of her real-estate agent. The family will continue to lease the house to its tenants.

I agree with Felix Salmon: Bair could be waiting a long time if she's determined to get nearly $700,000.